Students Preparing For County Fair

STUDENTS SPEND SUMMER WORKING WITH ANIMALS

FARMINGTON — Farmington High FFA provides an animal barn to help those students who do not live on a farm or have space to raise animals to show at the annual Washington County Fair.

“We live in town so we don’t have the facility for an animal,” said Corrine Burrus, who will show as an FFA member for the first time this year at the fair. Previously, she has shown with Bethel Grove 4-H Club.

Corrine, who will be a ninth- grader, will show two Hampshire Suffix Cross sheep.

Taking care of an animal and getting it ready to show is work, Corrine said. She goes to the barn, located behind Folsom Elementary School, twice a day to feed her animals.

She enjoys the work, though.

“It’s fun. I like getting animals when they are real small, working with them, watching them grow and getting them ready for the fair,” Corrine said.

Both of her sheep are wethers, or males, and weighed about 50 pounds in April. Now, the animals weigh 130- 140 pounds.

Clayton Sallee, Farmington High School agriculture teacher and FFA sponsor, said 13-14 Farmington FFA students will show at the fair this year. He and Ronnie Horne, also an agriculture teacher, spend time in the summer going to check on their students’ animals and making sure everything is OK.

“We want to make sure they have feed and water and are comfortable,” Sallee said. “We also track weight. We don’t want them to be too fat or too light.”

The two teachers supervise and provide advice. They also spend a lot of time hauling animals on behalf of their students. The students are responsible for care and preparing their animals for judging at the county fair.

Corrine Rodgers, a sophomore, also has a sheep at the FFA barn. She goes twice a day, in the morning and evening, to feed and water Daisy, walk her and teach her to stand correctly, or brace, for the judges.

Corrine Rodgers showed goats for three years and said sheep are harder.

“Goats are smarter than sheep. You have to teach sheep how to be led by their heads,” Corrine Rodgers said.

She loves animals and wants to be a zoologist. The hardest part of showing a sheep, Corrine Rodgers said, is teaching the animal how to brace. Her favorite part is being hands-on with Daisy.

Dawson Swaffar, 15, has shown at Washington County Fair since he was five years old. This year he will have two hogs, a Duroc and Dark Crossbred, three broiler chickens, three Golden Sex Links ( hens) and two showbirds, a Silver Spangled Hamburg and a White-faced Black Spanish.

Swaffar lives in the county and has a building and space for his animals. A typical day, he said, is to arise early to feed and walk his hogs and rinse them off. His broilers stay in an air-conditioned coup so he checks to make sure the facility is the correct temperature. He returns throughout the day to check on the animals and feed them again.

Swaffar said he likes showing animals because it is a good experience that gives life lessons.

“I learn how to take care of stuff,” Swaffar said.

He said being a member of FFA has helped because he is naturally shy and “it has helped me open up.”

The Washington County Fair will be held Aug. 26-30.

PHOTOS BY LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Corrine Rodgers, a 10th-grader at Farmington High, teaches her sheep, named Daisy, how to “brace” for the judges. She will show her animal at the Washington County Fair later this month. Corrine doesn’t have space to keep her sheep at home and uses the...

Dawson Swaffar, a member of Farmington FFA, will show hogs, broilers, hens and show birds at the Washington County Fair. He cares for his animals at his home.